Coast ready for tourists

THERE’S a mad rush at Wooli and Minnie Water this week as villagers prepare for the influx of tourists due to arrive on Boxing Day.

Richard Rawding, from the Solitary Islands Marine Park Resort, in Wooli, said it didn’t matter how prepared they were, there was always an annual scramble to get the park ready for the silly season.

“It just creeps up on you so fast and all of a sudden it’s Christmas,” Mr Rawding said.

“And just when you think everything is finished, you find yourself doing touch-ups right up until the final days.”

This year the park has been booked out for the first three weeks of the Christmas holidays, giving staff and tradesmen a strict deadline to work towards.

And they had a lot of jobs on their list to complete.

In the lead up to Christmas, 15 new cabins and beach huts and 20 units with ensuites have been installed at the resort, along with a large jumping pillow for the kids.

The central kitchen has also been improved, with a cafe installed downstairs and a large outdoor bar upstairs.

But it’s not just the caravan parks rushing to prepare for the onslaught of holiday-makers.

Last week there were more council workers on the streets in Wooli than locals. Clarence Valley Council staff could be seen clearing bush, removing rubbish and fire debris from the recent Wooli bushfires, moving rocks and installing bollards to stop 4X4 vehicles from driving through vegetation reserves.

Council has also been busy in Minnie Water repairing the wall at the bottom of the bay hill.

Minnie Water residents featured in a recent story in The Daily Examiner complaining about the stability and poor quality of the wall erected by council following the storms in May.